Short Answer Questions - Lancaster High School



Name ___________________________ English 9

Period ____ Date ___________________

A Child Called It Study Guide

DIRECTIONS: Answer the questions. Use your book to help you.

Chapter 1, The Rescue

1. Why does Dave want to finish washing the dishes as quickly as possible?

2. What is Dave's mother's favorite weapon against him? p.4

3. Why does Dave not mind running to school in the morning?

4. What are the contents of the lunch Dave's mother has been making him every day for three years?

5. What does Dave's mother tell him to say happened to his face?

6. How does Dave's mother look on a typical day?

7. Who checks for new injuries on Dave every morning before school starts?

8. What does Dave say happened to his face when he is questioned about the bruises?

9. What piece of clothing does Dave's mother make him wear to school every day for the past two years?

10. What do all the students in Dave's class do when he returns to the classroom?

11. For what reason does Dave think he has been called into the principal's office?

12. What does Dave make sure that everyone knows about the scar on his chest?

13. How does Dave feel about telling the story of his injuries?

14. What does the principal give to Dave after the meeting in his office?

15. Where is Dave taken after the meeting in Mr. Hansen's office?

16. Why is Dave afraid to give his mother's phone number to the authorities?

17. When Dave's mother receives the phone call from the authorities, what is she told?

18. What is Dave told after the phone call to his mother?

Chapter 2, Good Times

19. Who does Dave compare his family to before the abuse started?

20. What is the name of Dave's father?

21. What is the occupation of Dave's father?

22. What nickname does Dave's father use for him?

23. Where does Dave's family live?

24. What is Dave's mother's name?

25. What does Dave's mother explain to her children while their cat is having kittens?

26. During the good years, when do the holidays begin for Dave's family?

27. What are Dave and his brothers allowed to do on Christmas Eve?

28. What do Dave and his family like to do in the springtime?

29. What is Dave's favorite place in the world to go during vacation?

Chapter 3, Bad Boy

30. What form of punishment does Dave get after his mother decides sitting in the corner is no longer effective?

31. What does Dave's mother make him and his brothers to do for hours at a time?

32. What happens to Dave when he forgets what his mother sent him to do?

33. Who becomes Dave's protector?

34. What do Dave's parents do from 3 P.M. until bedtime when his father is not working?

35. Why does Dave's mother have him sleep on the night she dislocates his shoulder?

36. How does Dave feel about school?

37. How does Dave do with his school work?

38. Where does Dave have to go while the rest of the family goes camping?

39. What does Dave's father do when his mother decides Santa would not be coming to Dave?

40. How does Dave's mother treat the other children who come to the house for Cub Scout meetings?

41. How does Dave save himself from being forced to lie across the stove?

42. What does Dave decide to do when he realizes that he finally beat his mother?

Chapter 4, The Fight for Food

43. Once school starts again, what is Dave's mother feeding him?

44. How does Dave manage to steal food from his classmates?

45. What is Dave's mother's reaction when she finds out he has been stealing lunches at school?

46. How does Dave's mother refer to him?

47. Where does Dave go when he finishes his chores after school?

48. What is Dave's father's reaction to Dave's punishments?

49. What are most of Dave's parent's arguments about?

50. What does Dave's teacher, Miss Moss, start questioning him about?

51. What is Dave's mother's reaction when she receives a call from the principal about Dave's condition?

52. What does Dave's mother tell the principal?

53. What is the disgusting punishment Dave's mother invents for him when the family is vacationing at the Russian River?

54. Why isn't Dave allowed to get a ride to school with his brothers?

55. What is Dave's plan when he cannot steal food from school anymore?

56. How does Dave eventually get food at home?

57. What is the new bed assigned to Dave by his mother? p. 68

58. How does Dave find food after being confined in the garage for hours?

Chapter 5, The Accident

59. What is Dave's frame of mind during the summer of 1971?

60. What position does Dave's mother force him to do while the rest of the family eats?

61. Summarize Russell's attitude toward Dave.

62. What happens when Dave's mother threatens to kill him with a knife?

63. What does mother do after Dave is stabbed?

64. What does Dave's mother tell him to do when he regains consciousness?

65. Dave goes to his father for help after being stabbed. What is his father's reaction?

66. What does Dave do when he finds that his wound is infected?

67. What does Dave do to keep from screaming while his wound is being cleaned

68. What does Dave dream on the night his infection is cleaned?

Chapter 6, While Father is Away

69. What does Dave's father do to ease Dave's burden?

70. What is father's reaction when mother tells him to stop helping Dave?

71. What does Dave's father promise him as they talk quietly together?

72. How does Dave react when his father says goodbye to him?

73. Dave's mother offers him food after many days. What does she do when he is about to eat it?

74. What is the one thing Dave wants, even more than food?

75. What new torture does Dave's mother come up with when she sends him to clean the bathroom?

76. What does Dave's mother tell him to do while she takes his brothers to the zoo?

77. When Dave's mother returns from the zoo, what does she do to him?

78. Who do Dave's brothers bring to the house to see him being punished?

79. What does Dave's fourth grade substitute teacher give to students who do good work?

80. Why does the school nurse begin to be interested in Dave's condition?

81. Why does Dave's mother give him roller skates for Christmas?

82. How is Dave treated by the rest of the family when his mother is in the hospital?

83. Why does Dave's mother suddenly allow him to eat with the family, watch TV, and gives him new clothes to wear?

Chapter 7, The Lord's Prayer

84. As Dave enters fifth grade, what is his frame of mind?

85. What does Dave refuse to do despite how his mother treats him?

86. What does Dave bring himself to eat after he finishes the breakfast dishes one day?

87. When is the only time Dave ever has his prayers answered?

88. When does Dave believe he will be free of his mother?

89. Who does Dave hate more than anyone else?

90. Describe Dave's behavior in the classroom one a day during the winter of 1973.

91. What do two of Dave's classmates tell him to do when they are on a field trip on a clipper ship?

92. What contest does Dave win in the fifth grade?

93. When Dave brings home a letter from Mr. Zeigler telling Mother about Dave's being the top student in the class, how does Mother react?

94. What lie does Dave's mother tell everyone about what Dave did to her while she was pregnant?

95. When Dave's father leaves for good, what is Dave's reaction?

Epilogue, Sonoma County, California

96. What is Dave thinking as he stands facing the beauty of the Pacific Ocean?

97. As Dave watches an old piece of driftwood as it washes ashore, what does he imagine the wood is trying to do?

98. What does the piece of driftwood remind Dave of?

99. How does Dave look positively at his abusive past?

100. What does Dave promise himself he will do if he comes out of his situation alive?

101. How does Dave prevent the black hole from taking control of his life?

102. What have the challenges of Dave's past done for him?

103. What does Dave manage to do when he is rescued?

104. What did he gain from that experience?

105. How does Dave feel about life in America?

106. Describe the people Dave encounters after he is rescued.

107. Where does David go when he needs to think and relax?

108. Describe where Dave brings his son in the final chapter and his emotions at that time.

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